Page 61 of The Feral Alpha

“No, don’t be.” His dad hugged him tighter. “Gods, and these scars—Who the fuck did that to you?”

Rex flinched.

“We don’t know,” Olson said quietly. “But my friends think he escaped from captivity to make his way here. His captors are still around somewhere.”

Rex’s dad grimaced, then looked determined. “I’ll protect him.”

Rex growled. He didn’t need his dad’s protection. “Rex fine.”

His dad sighed. “You’re not fine, kiddo. You need to go to therapy. You need to... to relearn everything. Plus self-defense. Oh, gods. You’re so vulnerable right now.”

Olson twitched, guilt darting through his face, but he hid it quickly. Their visitors didn’t see. Rex caught it, though.

“George?” Mr. Worster said quietly.

Unlike his dad, Mr. and Mrs. Worster looked similar to Rex. He recognized his eyes on Mrs. Worster’s face, his mouth and nose on Mr. Worster. Mrs. Worster was the alpha—she had broad shoulders and muscular arms, and Mr. Worster was thin and small next to her.

It felt like Rex knew them, too, but he didn’t know how.

The Worsters were holding hands, both of them staring at him with wet eyes.

“How is this possible?” Mrs. Worster said. “You look exactly like our George. Just slightly older than when we lost him.”

“Do you think he could be George’s cousin? Distant relative?” Olson asked, but his expression said he already knew the answer.

Mr. Worster shook his head. “No. We would’ve known if someone in our family looked this much like George.”

When Rex’s dad finally released him, the Worsters came forward hesitantly.

“Can we hug you?” Mrs. Worster asked.

Rex nodded, and they wrapped him up in their arms, holding him tight.

“Oh, gods, you even smell the same,” Mr. Worster said tearfully.

Rex wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react, when he had no memories of them, either. But he hugged them because they too wore the same kind of grief that Olson had at first, when he’d shaved off Rex’s beard.

Rex patted their backs awkwardly, feeling cherished, but also itching to return to Olson. After he’d gone on longer than he was comfortable with, he squirmed out of their embrace, returning behind Olson so he could hug his omega. This, this felt right.

Olson stiffened, his ears turning pink. “Uh. I promise I didn’t make any moves on him when he showed up at my bar. He bit me first.”

It wasn’t the exact truth because there were other things that had happened in between, but Rex wasn’t too fussed.

“Mine,” he growled.

His dad sighed. “Seriously? Again?”

Yes, and Rex would prove it.

He took Olson’s wrist, the one with only one bonding mark. And he brought it to his mouth, looking their visitors in the eye.

“Rex,” Olson yelped, his face turning pinker. “Are you sure—”

Rex sank his teeth hard into Olson’s wrist, into his scent gland, breaking skin.

Olson shuddered and swore, his blush deepening.

“Mine,” Rex growled. When he pulled away, droplets of blood welled up on Olson’s wrist. Rex licked his bite clean. His marking was now on all of Olson’s scent glands, and Olson was completely his.